Duke Blue Devils College Football Season Preview

Wallace Wade Stadium has not been kind to the Dukies, going 14-48 since 2001, which is by far the worst of any team in the ACC. David Cutcliffe is entering his fourth season as head coach and is just 12-24 with no bowl appearances, though going 5-7 in 2009 with star QB Thaddeus Lewis got the team close.

They have lacked an average defense let alone a decent one. They have not had many playmakers on offense and they have been known to get into shootouts just to win a few games a season.

Duke has the worst record in the ACC in the past three, five, and ten seasons. Duke is 8-72 in the ACC the past ten years and they are just 5-25 in the past five. If that is not heart throbbing enough for the Cameron Crazies they are also 5-19 in the past three seasons.

You Better Run or Hide

Sean Renfree will enter his second season starting and he will look to become an All-ACC quarterback with a solid season. He threw for 3,131 yards (led ACC in QB rating) along with 16 TDs in just his first complete year starting. He played in six games in his freshmen year before he tore his ACL.

He has some improvements to make as his decision making was bad while throwing 17 picks.  He had absolutely ZERO running game as the stats back it up. In 2009, Duke was dead LAST in America (120) averaging only 63 rushing yards per game. Last year, they ranked 104th averaging an improved 110 per game. 

So, will there be improvement made again in 2011? Well, Desmond Scott surely thinks so as he was one of the higher recruited players ever in Duke’s recent history.

Scott ran for 530 yards with 3 TDs with a 4.4 yard per carry. While those are far from gaudy numbers, it shows how low the Blue Devils were last season at running the football. Josh Snead is the backup and provides a bit more elusiveness and more quickness off the bench. 

Kicking Their Way to Victory

The offensive line returns three starters, but, as usual, no Dukies are on the All-ACC Pre-Season honor list.

They have had a miserable OL for decades. To describe how tough it is for Duke to reach a bowl game: they have only gone to five since 1954!! Their last bowl appearance was in the 1994 Hall of Fame Bowl when Steve Spurrier was the head coach.

Duke only averaged 25 points per game, which was good for just 77th in the nation. Luckily, they feature one of the premier kickers in the ACC with Will Snyderwine. Snyderwine made First Team All-ACC Pre-Season over Florida State's Dustin Hopkins.

Dear Coach K, Please Help Us Play Defense!

The defense returns six starters and that is really the only good news.  They finished the year ranking 113th against the run, allowing 208 yards per game, and the talent did not all of a sudden improve a whole lot. Matt Daniels is the best defender on the team and he is the free safety who broke up seven passes while making 93 tackles (second leading tackler on team).  

When one of your top tacklers is a safety, then you have major issues.

The front seven is abysmal because they lack the size and strength to shut down my high school team. Their two ends are both under 255 pounds and they lack explosion coming off the edge. The linebackers are decent but clearly it is the secondary that is the strength of this defense.

Most teams will be running it all day against the Blue Devils which means both safeties must come up in the box to attempt to slow down the opposition’s running game.

Having the 96th ranked pass defense better improve because the corners were fairly weak (no elite athletes or physical players) and the total defense was ranked just 108th in America! (4th worst in BCS)

Drama's Forecast

The schedule is not impossible but it is quite daunting. It may be extremely difficult to reach the five win plateau. This is the best squad that Cutcliffe has fielded, but let’s keep in mind that their record the past three years have been: 4-8, 5-7, and 3-9! The schedule is easily tougher than it has been the past three years, and while I think they will match that three win mark, anything more than four would be shocking.

Predicted Finish: 3-9, 0-8

Predicted Bowl: None 

Predicted order of finish in ACC: Sixth in Coastal, 12th Overall